TY - JOUR AU - Xu, Dongping AU - Zhang, Zheng AU - Chu, Fuliang AU - Li, Yonggang AU - Jin, Lei AU - Zhang, Lingxia AU - Gao, George F. AU - Wang, Fu-Sheng T1 - Genetic Variation of SARS Coronavirus in Beijing Hospital T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2004 VL - 10 IS - 5 SP - 789 SN - 1080-6059 AB - To characterize genetic variation of severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) transmitted in the Beijing area during the epidemic outbreak of 2003, we sequenced 29 full-length S genes of SARS-CoV from 20 hospitalized SARS patients on our unit, the Beijing 302 Hospital. Viral RNA templates for the S-gene amplification were directly extracted from raw clinical samples, including plasma, throat swab, sputum, and stool, during the course of the epidemic in the Beijing area. We used a TA-cloning assay with direct analysis of nested reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction products in sequence. One hundred thirteen sequence variations with nine recurrent variant sites were identified in analyzed S-gene sequences compared with the BJ01 strain of SARS-CoV. Among them, eight variant sites were, we think, the first documented. Our findings demonstrate the coexistence of S-gene sequences with and without substitutions (referred to BJ01) in samples analyzed from some patients. KW - SARS coronavirus,genetic variation KW - quasispecies,spike glycoprotein gene KW - China DO - 10.3201/eid1005.030875 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/10/5/03-0875_article ER - End of Reference